Exxon Mobil Corporation announced recently that its subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL), has completed drilling of the Z-11 well, the longest measured depth extended-reach drilling (ERD) well in the world. Located on Sakhalin Island offshore Eastern Russia, the record-setting Z-11 achieved a total measured depth of 37,016 feet (11,282 meters) or over seven miles.
The multiphase Sakhalin-1 Project includes the Chayvo field which is located 5 to 7 miles (8 to 11 kilometers) offshore. The Z-11 was drilled to the Chayvo reservoir from the Yastreb rig the land-based drilling rig. Overall, the Chayvo field reached its peak production rate of 250,000 barrels (34,000 metric tons) per day in February 2007 after an on-schedule startup in October 2005. The Z-11 is the 17th ERD producing well to be completed as part of the Sakhalin-1 Project. It was drilled in 61 days, more than 15 days ahead of schedule and below expected cost with no safety or environmental incidents.
Since the first Sakhalin-1 well was drilled in 2003, the time required to drill these world-class wells has been reduced by more than fifty percent. When compared to industry benchmarks, Sakhalin-1 wells are the world's fastest drilled ERD wells.
https://www.oilandgasonline.com/doc/exxonmobil-announces-drilling-of-world-record-0001
Interestingly, I was talking with an Exxon friend the other day who told me that the advance in drilling extended reach wells convinced Exxon to develop this field offshore Sakhalin with long-reach wells rather than building an iceberg-proof expensive offshore platform.
A paradigm shift.
